So you may or may not know this little bit of my testimony already that when I was younger I had some significant
Self-esteem problems. I was living
Ego-centrically so I thought the world all kind of revolved around me and I was waiting and everything that everything that anyone said
I thought was about me even though it might have been generic or not pointed at me
If I if someone talked about how tall someone was I thought I was
Defective because I wasn't tall enough and someone taught about how big or muscular someone was I thought I was defective because I wasn't muscular enough
Someone talked about how smart somebody else was I thought I wasn't smart enough
Someone talked about being tricked or somebody being tricky. I thought I wasn't tricky enough. That's the way I was living my life
Until really until I was about 25 years old and began to question whether or not God was real whether or not
Christianity was real and I began to analyze it and you can imagine that first six months that I sat in church as I listened
to what the Bible said about God and said about Jesus and what the pastor said about
Evangelists and missionaries and about giving and serving it. I was always saying to myself. Well, I don't serve enough
I don't give enough. I'm not smart enough. I've figured this out God
And all the time I'm thinking to myself God may be real. I'm not sure if I'm real. I was struggling inside myself
I remember a particular incident when I was about 12 years old
And uh, it's gonna kind of really date me
But this was in the day of bcrs and kind of the beginning of digital watches
And digital watches had just become a thing and people were getting you could buy a digital watch now finally for a reasonable price
In 10 15 bucks something like that. It came art
And they're pretty nice watches really
And the fact is that no one of the older generation knew how to set a digital watch or a clock on a bcr
Now it's not particularly complicated you push and hold the button until the number starts to blink
Then you push the hour button until it says what you want
You push the minute button till it says what you want
And then you push the first button that you first push to make it start blinking to make it stop blinking the clock is set
It's like that, right and that's same way out of each our same way on a digital watch
So my aunts and uncles were over for a birthday party
My aunts and uncles were over for a birthday party
My aunts and uncles were over for a birthday party and my cousins were there and we used to do that back in the day before
My grandfather had his massive stroke and my family my father's family sort of fell apart
and uh
My mom come in the room and somebody whose ever birthday it was
I don't remember whose birthday we had gotten a digital watch and the time was set wrong
And my mom said to the crowd said oh danny's here. That'll take care of it
He knows how to set everything every digital clock ever invented. He knows how to do it
He'll take care of your watch for you. Just give it to danny
And I had a set of mixed emotions
First of all for a moment. I thought oh no, I'm in trouble
I'm going to be setting every digital clock that has ever purchased in this family for as long as digital clocks exist
And I'm it's going to be like a lot of work and basically while I was in my egocentrical nature. I thought of myself as pretty
Crafty and I thought I'm going to avoid this work and I said not humbly at all
There was no humbleness at all
I said well
I don't know if I can set it or not because I wanted to plant a seed of doubt in their minds to think that maybe
If they purchased a digital watch like a month later, they might not call me because I wouldn't have to settle
I don't want to have so I plant try to plant that seed of doubt
But at the same time I felt like a god. I am the god of digital watches
I can set VCRs and digital watches in my family. I am the source the expert
I am mighty to conquer every digital watch and so even though I said
I don't know if I can set it or not. I said give it here
About a minute and a half later. I had set the digital watch and confirmed for myself
The ultimate position of digital watch setter in my family where I still am this day. I might add I'm
54 years old now. My mother calls me up when you come you gotta set the clock on the VCR because it's driving me
Much and they do still have a VCR
And so I'm still setting the digital clocks of my family to this day
But it's that moment in time at which they said here comes Danny. He'll solve the problem
He knows how to set your digital watch and the feelings that arose in me that I want you to focus on as we look
At what is a very short text we have just exactly two texts
We may kind of reference others
But we'll only read two texts today and the first one and the primary one for the sermon is a fairly short text
And maybe give me a little who to holler amen as we go to loop 24
All right, so we were in loop 24 for Easter and we're still here
We are not reading the entire chapter. We are going to pick up now in verse 50
And we're going to get what is really about the shortest story of Jesus leaving that exists in the bible
Okay
And so Luke 24 50 did you need some?
Well, it's then that's not right because it's 24. Thank you
And so those are online join us in 24 50. I probably sent it wrong in the text. That's my fault
And it says and he and the he is Jesus. Let's not confuse it
Right, and he led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and he blessed him
All right
So we got Jesus and we got the disciples all the characters that are here present in the physical or Jesus after his
resurrection
Before he's gone home to stay in heaven
All right, and he lifts up his hands to bless them and that word there in the greek and you don't even care about this
But you will in a minute when I make the connection right is
You log on or and it has a variant various endings depending on who's doing the blessing and who's getting blessed
Okay, so it's you log
Whatever it is, right depending on who's doing the blessing and who's getting blessed and Jesus is doing the blessing and he's blessing the gathered
disciples there
Uh right before he goes to leave
51 says and it came about that while he was blessing them he parted from them
So that you log on same thing. He's the same word he's blessing them
In fact, it looks exactly the same because it's still him which would change it a little bit if from say we are doing it
Or they are doing it. It's him doing it and he is blessing them
So the ending is exactly the same in 50 as it is in 51 is blessing them. So that's two blessings
We've got two blessings, right? Those are obvious. So it
It says and it came about that while he was blessing them. He parted from them. So he left
He left and we know elsewhere. We can read a more complete or more detailed would probably be a better way of saying it
A story of his ascension
But bottom line is we've got he's blessing them and then as he's blessing them he left
So there's your two blessings in the text and now i'm going to continue to read
I'm reading from the new american standard version by the way, if you're following along
That would be why
Just out of curiosity is anyone reading from the king james version here today you are good. I'm going to need you in a minute
Pay attention. Okay, here we go
He was blessing them and he parted from them now 52 and they returned to jerusalem with great joy
Okay, so now they he's gone. He went away and again in other accounts
There's a little bit more detail there, but bottom line is he went away and now they go back to jerusalem from
from bethany back to jerusalem
With great joy, right so like if the god of heaven in flesh blesses you
That's the reason to have joy. Let's not get into it too deeply right the one but they're joyous and it says and they were continually in the temple
praising god, right chris
Praising and blessing god there's your missing blessing now. Why is one translation different from another?
Okay, let's say for example, uh, we come to church. We're worshiping together and we sing a praise song
Okay, we just sang one of the middle songs that we sent which was really
God's timing and he really ties it in with the message. It says god is faithful god's faithfulness right talking about god being faithful
So when we talk about god's faithful in the praise song
We are praising god for his faithfulness, right? We understand that's a common use in english, right?
But if I talk about how strong and how smart and how creative my brother michael is
Am I praising him? I am am I not am I also blessing him?
I am am I not and so in english the word praising and blessing
Has a certain definition that's almost interchangeable, right?
So you could translate the word that is used there a word that is used there praising and blessing and if you do
You could get confused. In fact, if you do
You could get confused. In fact, if it was just one word there you log on which is there
And you'll remember that from earlier in the text. It's the same as what jesus did to them, right?
So they're you log on you log on and him back
Okay, it's hard to say that because it's not really a way to speak. All right, so they're they're they're blessing him back
Is what they're doing, but there's also another word there which is proskuneo, which is praising
But if you say praising in english, you pretty much mean praising and blessing. So it's the same thing
So most translators take those two and they say this is what's called a literary
structure
So like for example
If I was talking to brother ron and then I went over here to talk to brother chris and I told brother chris
I was talking to brother ron and say we were debating something and it got a little heated
I might say to
Uh brother chris. I was talking to brother ron. I was debating with brother ron
Okay, now brother chris could go to somebody else and he would say day at pastor day. I was talking to brother ron
Did he tell the truth the absolute truth from his point of view?
He summarized exactly what I said without including that extra little detail that maybe it got a little heated
We were debating he didn't have to do that because he told whoever else it was the exact truth that I told him about my conversation
with ron nothing is wrong there
but if he wants to
Add a little excitement to the conversation he's had maybe gossip a little bit or whatever he could say
Brother pastor dan was talking to brother ron and they were arguing
Now is that true?
Not really right, but if he says they were talking and they were debating that's still true
Right now the truth is brother ron may not even have thought we were debating
You get it. We didn't he didn't think we're debating. We're just talking about something and I was kind of trying to debate with him
But he wasn't debating back with me. So the bottom line is it's a matter of perception
it's a matter of understanding
And to really understand it you have to get down to the difference between praising and blessing in the context of the verses
and so
The king james and a couple of other translations they include the two direct translations of those two words
So that you can see the difference and the new american standard just uses the word praising so that you can see the similarity
Is either one wrong? No does pastor dan have a favorite translation of the scriptures?
No, you know I do not if you don't now you do right
I do not have a favorite and this is why in fact I would submit to you that if you studied only the new american standard
on this text
And never looked at the king james or if you studied only the king james and never looked at the new american standard
And never looked at new american standard you would miss a fact that in this text
There's a missing blessing because there is under a certain circumstance a difference between praising someone and blessing them
Even though if you look it up in the dictionary, you'll find enough comp, you know enough
Similarities in the words or whatever that you could say they are the same. They are not always the same just as a square
I'll get this backwards right a square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square. That's what we're talking about
So first of all, let's talk briefly about the text that i'm going to take you into a few points
So the first thing is this is a short version
This is a short version of the ascension
So he's not trying to get into all kinds of details
He does not give them every command and everything that they're supposed to do in this text
Right, so there's a big argument that goes on between theologians as to whether this ascension is actually the same
Ascension that luke will later tell about in the book of acts it may be it may not be
Is this the permanent returning of jesus christ to heaven or just as an event where he went away from them?
And gave them some direction a blessing if you will went away from them and he came back later to teach them some more
Is this an event that took place during the 40 days or is this the final ascension of jesus?
And the truth is we don't know the answer if you assume you know the answer you would probably be making a mistake
Because if god wanted you to know for sure he'd have told you for sure
He'd have told you for sure
Okay
Bottom line is there is no contradiction between this ascension and the one that luke describes at the beginning of acts in fact
Because there is no contradiction there is an argument amongst theologians that it is actually this is a shorter version
Of the same ascension so that you can realize the book of luke and the book of acts go together
You know that right luke wrote both the book of luke is the story of jesus's life and all it is
Death burial resurrection all the way up to the ascension
And the book of acts is the story of the life of the church and what the disciples do after jesus ascends
Starting with jesus's ascension and there is no contradiction between this ascension and the one at the beginning of the book of acts
Okay, so people think that really it is the same thing and he put it there just like he did to say look
I'll get into it in a minute. Let me just tell you right now. He blessed him as he was leaving
Okay
Let me give you the full details over here in the book of acts which starts the church
So it's a shorter version
Some think it's a transition between the book of luke and the book of acts and that they do go very well together
He did write both
Um it the connection is there the point of view may be slightly different in other words in the book of luke
He's focusing on what jesus did as he was ascending in the book of acts
He's focusing on what the disciples will now have to respond to what is their job? What is their direction?
What have they been given did jesus give them any direction in here?
Not really
Right now. We know that he had previously told them about going back and waiting for the power of god has come on them, right?
But here he's not really giving them any direction. He just blesses them and then leaves them
Okay, so it could be a difference in the point of view what he's trying to get across
But this is a fact jesus is leaving in this text jesus is physically leaving the physical presence of the disciples
They're there they're collected. They've been with them for however long
And if this is the final ascension for 40 days being taught what the church was due and now jesus is leaving
And so we can learn something about god from observing the way that jesus leaves
Note where is he going? He's going home
Where are you ultimately going if you are a christian?
You're going home. This is not home right and your house your address not home if you're a christian your home is heaven
And so when you leave you could learn something from the way that jesus leaves in fact
You could even remote remotely say you're leaving now you're on the way out, right?
Because you may die tomorrow god forbid you may die in a year god forbid you may die in a decade god forbid
But sometime you're dying and you're on the way to that event
Right and so you could look at the way that he leaves and you could follow his example as we're supposed to walk as he walked
So as he's going home
He blessed
He blessed so let's look at the word you log on for a moment and it's different endings
But we're just going to look at what it is and to say that he blessed them is to say that he spoke positive things
Toward them or about them
Okay, so just as I might say I love the way brother
Josh is very creative and the way he makes all kinds of gifts and gives them away and is thoughtful and how he shows up
Early and works hard and I I like that about him. That's a blessing, right?
So i'm pronouncing a blessing based on the word you log on jesus did the same for them
He told them good things about them good things that were going to come to happen to them
And we don't have the details here, but it could include a lot of what's in x1, right?
A lot of what will later be told so the bottom line is you log on means to speak good things
About or at the person or persons in question. He blessed them
Now I want you to think for a second
Let your wheels spin for a second because we're going to get back to it
Remember, this is the same word that's in the final verse you log on
So this is what they do back to him and we'll get there in a moment
So he blessed them he talked good things about them and toward them
Well, I submit to you that everything that was ever created by god in the beginning anyway was created by him speaking
So when god speaks good things about you that is good things that's going to happen or that have already been set
Right god says you're gonna do great. You're gonna do great
It's not like he's praising you hoping you're gonna do great like I might do
Right, but he knows if he says you're gonna do great
You're gonna do great if he says you're gonna be big or small or tall or short or or quick or slow or smart or dumb
That's what's gonna happen
So you want the good things from god and jesus as he was leaving he pronounced blessings on them speaking good things about them
to them
Okay
Also, jesus was not leaving them to leave them even though he's leaving we know what happens next, right?
If this is the final ascension
He's leaving them to go and send god's holy spirit that will now exist in them and every believer from now on
So he is leaving to
equip
Right when the holy spirit comes you get holy spirit gifts. So aaron may have the holy spirit gift of teaching
Caitlin may have the holy spirit gift of teaching you may have the holy spirit gift of administration because it kind of like shows up a lot
In your life, right?
So you have holy spirit gifts the holy spirit decides exactly what's right for you
He brings it he equips you he makes you able to use it even though you may not even have it you use it in your life
Right and jesus is going for the purpose of equipping. So he says you elsewhere
He should be glad that i'm leaving because as i'm leaving i'm gonna send right i'll pray the father and he's gonna send
I'm gonna get this done. So he's not leaving them to leave them
He's leaving them to equip them. He's not leaving them to leave them. In fact, he's leaving them to intercede for them
So where does he wind up?
He winds up at the right hand of god and he makes intercession for us
Every time we sin if you're a follower of jesus christ you only get jesus's righteousness because he's continually making intercession for you
God's wrath flows out from god's throne. Let's be very realistic about it
All right
When the israelites were going into the promised land the levites had to walk all around the temple and protect everybody else
Because they don't want the wrath of god miss the wrath of god to pour out on god's people as they're going in the promised land
Because god had claimed those people for himself and as christians we fill that role today
You are protecting this world. You're like if we look at the world and go man the world's messed up
They're teaching stuff that I don't agree with they're doing things. I don't agree with god should just shut all the time
You know why god is not destroying the earth yet
The bible says god is not destroying the earth and rebuilding it yet because he is patient
with us
It doesn't say with all mankind or with lost people you want to make it out to be that go ahead if you want
But that's not what it means. He's patient with us, right?
So he is letting us do the work that he is giving us to do he is patient and that's why it's not yet happening
So the next time somebody does something really stupid. I want you to remember you made it possible
Next time a woman goes and gets an abortion of a baby that she never should have got pregnant with but she did and now
She doesn't want it and she kills it. We made it possible because god is patient with us
That's crazy to think about but that's the reality. That's why jesus hasn't brought it to an end yet
That's why god has not brought it to an end yet. Jesus is there interceding for us
So we will sin and when we do he will intercede for us
And if you say well, you know, it says we'll not practice in well, then don't practice in don't get good at it
Don't try to do it. Don't think you should do it. Don't lean on it as a method of feeling better, right?
Jesus will intercede for you, but let's not be stupid about it
Let's be holy as much as we possibly can so he's leaving them
But he's in leaving to intercede and to equip he speaks positive things to them about them
And then leaves to intercede and equip them
Also notice that his blessing remains so he's leaving but his blessing remains
A lot of times older folks start to think about like what's my legacy going to be?
How have I trained my children? How have I trained young men or young women?
What if I'm not leaving behind do I got a bunch of money to leave them? You know, what have I done?
What's my inheritance? What's my legacy?
Here is the legacy that the body that the Bible ordains for every human being
You need to leave behind a blessing like Jesus did
And you notice you look in the Old Testament, you'll see that every patriarch is passing away just about
There are a few that don't quite fall in this category, but almost every patriarch is blessing people
He's leaving his blessing, right? So there's your blessing and then there's your your inheritance
So you might leave them some money in case you hadn't noticed it money is not a blessing
Money only feels like a blessing when you need it to pay for something
The rest of the time it's not a blessing if you got a bunch of money you got a mighty got to take care
You got to make sure you get prideful about it. You got to make sure you don't get jealous about it
You got to make sure you don't become envious of somebody else's it's a mess money is a mess, right?
Resources are a mess more resources you got the more work it is
So leave them behind your money you make your children millionaires. You know what you make them weak
You make them weak and they'll be weak because they don't have to ever become a millionaire
And they'll be weak because they don't have to ever become a millionaire on their own
This is the way it works check it out in history
Every man that ever made his children a millionaire made him weak and then the next generation that person blows all the money
The next generation has to work to be a millionaire again and often they do because they know how granddad did it
So then they go be a millionaire again
And then they leave to their children who are weak and it goes strong weak strong weak strong weak down through the ancestor of every rich family
Check it if you don't believe it google it. It's a fact
And so be careful of thinking that your blessing is what you're going to leave behind
No, your blessing is what you're going to say by your life by your actions by your speaking what you're going to say to your children
That's your blessing
When you're about to die, are you going to be screaming in pain?
And oh woe is me or you're going to be praising god as you walk into glory
I've been at the bedside of both and I submit to you that the former was no blessing
whatsoever for the family and the latter was a blessing indeed
And christians should leave the way jesus leaves and you may be on your way to leave right now
So you should be living now the way jesus leaves
Leave a blessing
And then notice he does not leave them alone as he departs from them
He sent his spirit we won't dwell on that but the bottom line is that's the main purpose
In his mind for why he's going to pray the father and send the holy spirit
So we look briefly at jesus and how he left jesus is leaving
And if we're leaving and I think that's a reality we ought to leave the way he was leaving
Bless others use your mouth and your actions to bless people say good things about them and to them
But there's more to that yet that we'll talk about in a moment intercede for people
Pray ask god to do what only god can do for anybody that might be in need or
Personally show up and meet the need if you possibly can equip people before during and after you're leaving
bless people all right so then
We got to go on the disciples got to go on after jesus physically leaves them now the holy spirit has not come
So let's be real simple about something if I may the next thing that i'm going to say to you
You got the inside track
It's easier for you than it was for them
And so if you if you find yourself to not be doing it
You might want to get to the brass ring down to the grassroots get to the bottom of and say why would I not be doing this
They're doing it and they don't have the holy spirit ask yourself that as we look at it
Because they had the hard tack they had to do it without now they've seen miracles. That's an advantage
But you know how easy it is to discount because you've probably seen miracles too
And then later were found unfaithful with something that you were supposed to do
Right so they could have discounted that they could have done it for you
Right so they could have discounted that they could have
Mistrusted whatever but they will do what they are about to do
Despite the fact that they do not have the holy spirit in them to empower them and equip them yet
All right, we live on this side
They lived in the middle as we see what we're about to see they have to go on
So first of all they go on and they were worshiping him there. That's what was actually going on
They were worshiping him as he's about to leave and they will continue to do so they praise him
The word there is proskuneo in the greek. You don't need to know that but it's a fun thing to know
Proskuneo and it means to prostrate yourself to get down
This is you on your knees in the feudal sense when we think about prayer
It would be you kneel before the king on your knees
You put your hands up like this and the king walks forward and he puts his hand on your hands and blesses you
And that is the picture of prayer. Why do we kneel in prayer? Because you're prostrating yourself before the one who can do something
Why do we treat the one we're praying to with the ultimate respect because he's god, right?
He's in charge. He's like the king in charge of the kingdom that we are part of so you prostrate
It's it's you on your face. If you've never been on your face before god and crying into the carpet
Then I submit to you. You've not reached your lowest point yet
I'm gonna say it again
If you've never been on your face crying tears into the carpet begging god to intercede on behalf of yourself or a loved one
That you've not reached your lowest point yet
Because i've been there multiple times
And I know men in this room that have
God's power and you're like well that shouldn't be that should
God is god you are not god. I am not god
This world is not god bunny is not god demons are not god satan is not god satan wants to resist the reign of god
But he is not god. He may be more powerful than you if you're not safe
But the one that is in you is more powerful than him if you are safe
There is a moment of time at which you have to get down brother
You got to get down on the ground and lay your face in the dirt and recognize that only god can solve the problems that you
have to face
And that's what it means to worship him to recognize his worth is sufficient above your current situation
And that's how they begin to think of jesus jesus the creator of the universe
Jesus who came in flesh died on a cross when he didn't have to buried in a rich man's tomb
Buried the same day as two thieves
Disowned
Denied betrayed
Deceived whipped within an inch of his life and then stabbed through with nails until he suffocated to death on the cross
That jesus
They got down
They worshiped they recognized that I can't do that even if they crucified me i'd still be in hell
I can't pay for what i've done that little white lie that dishonors god with my freedom of will
That lie would put me in hell for eternity. I can't stay out of hell. So I deserve
Nothing of what i'm asking for
How do you ask somebody for something when you deserve nothing? What a prideful arrogant people we are
We do it this way we recognize that god alone is god jesus alone is jesus
And if you really cared if you really were upset by what was going on if you're really bothered by what's going on in the world
Then you will worship god
You'll get down on your face and ask the god of the universe who could literally erase anything
But this is what I see. Oh, it's bothering me. I'm hurting lord. Please take care of it
Now i'm trusting that the lord will take care of it. Where's the proskine? Oh and that where's the prostrate falling before god?
You don't fall before god because you're afraid of him. No
Perfect love casts out fear
You can fall before god because god is willing that you would
Just try to go into the presence of the king. You remember the story of esther if he doesn't tip his scepter toward me
They'll just take me out and kill me immediately so they fasted and they begged god for three days
And then she goes in and he tips the scepter and she survives and she's able to make her plea before the king
It's like that with god
When david was on his deathbed and he had promised a certain descendant
Solomon would be king next and it was drifting in the wrong direction and someone else was making someone else king
His wife came in and she got on her face david's on his deathbed
He'll never lift a sling again
Probably never even see a bear or a lion again
He's on his deathbed about to die and she got on her face and made her petition before the king because he was king
He was god's king
When saul was hunting him
Yes when saul was hunting him across all of israel, right david
Had the opportunity three times to kill saul and wouldn't touch him. Why?
Because even though he was a jerk even though he tried to spear him at the feast
Even though he sent men to hunt him over and over and over again. He was still god's king. God made him king
You can get mad at people for what they do. You can strike out and hate you can live in fear
You can do all of those things but at some point in time. It's all going to boil down to this
Will you get on your face before god or not?
And I submit to you that if you will not recognize god and recognize jesus
The authority that they have you never get to the point of having joy
They went away in joy because they realized they had submitted all the things that really matter to the only one who really matters
The check is in the mail
Everything that matters about me everything that matters about my life everything that i'm going through everything that I care about everyone that I love
I'm putting them all in the hands of god any man who ever distrusted his life and thought she might cheat on him
If you're not treating her right, that's another problem all the time
But if you can't put your wife in the hands of god, you don't have a wife
If you can't put your son in the hands of god, you don't have a son
If you can't be the man that god wants you to be and lead your son or be the woman that god wants you to be
And lead your daughter or lead your husband or if you can't represent god in a way you put god completely first
You can't draw the line
I had to tell my sons as they were growing up. I said you can't do that
I said when I tell you what to do you do it. No back talking. That's it
So on the other hand if I tell you to do something and god tells you to do something different
You go ahead and do what god told you to do. That was the teaching
Right
So if I decided to walk out of church and stop showing up and i'm walking away from the lord
I have a reason to trust that my sons would still show up
Now, I don't know that they would I hope that they would
They should it's the right thing to do
And I shouldn't walk out either
But the point is I would tell them if I told them to do something that they could disobey me and do now
Did I tell them that I would not punish them?
No, I said there's a good chance that if you disobey me do what god says to do
Even is different. I told you to do I may punish you anyway
I said but don't worry about that if you get punished by me for doing what god told you to do
God will take care of you and and don't worry about it. God will take care of me
That's how you teach your son. That's how you teach your daughter. That's how you teach your husband your wife
The people you work with the people at school
Whatever you say god is god. I'm not god
And when you could take all the things of your life and hang them on god's coat rack
Then you can have joy then you can understand that what you're going through now god can take care of it
And then you can take care of your children
What would it be if god can take care of it?
And they had joy
And they did not have the holy spirit joy is a fruit of the holy spirit
So it should be blossoming up in you at the stupidest of times. You're like, I don't get it. Why am I not?
Falling apart
You should feel
Like it's an illusion like it doesn't quite make sense the way it is almost like it's insane
back to Jo Wriston who was a babysitter who served our family for many years and
she babysat Aaron and Arden, Alicia, Amalia, all of them as they were coming up and she
eventually passed away and went to be with the Lord and she was declared by
psychologists as clinically insane. Now she's perfectly normal person, follower of
the Lord, perfectly normal person who believed in Jesus, follower of the Lord. You know
why she was declared as clinically insane? She was declared as clinically
insane because they said after what you've been through you should be
depressed and you're not. After what you've been through you should be
complaining all the time, frustrated all the time, upset all the time, you should have
psychological issues, all kinds, need medication, all that kind of stuff
because what happens is she was working at Frish's and they were re-eating
outside with a lead cord and the lead cord caught her foot and bodily pulled
her out the drive-through window, broke the window out, pulled her through and she
got down to less than one lung, one arm paralyzed, went through like 33 surgeries,
waited three and a half years to get disability, living on next to nothing for
three and a half years and they said why are you not thrown? Why are you not
broken? And she had joy. Does that not just blow your mind? That's exactly what
happens when you take everything that you are and everything you're going
through and everything you're worried about and put it on God and then you
have joy. They also served. It says they went, they were continually in the temple.
By the way in case you hadn't noticed those of you who worked in the church
building today, coming to temple it's not always relaxation. There are people who
prepare, there are people who study, there are people who practice music, there are
people who clean this building, there are people who fix things when it breaks,
they change out the toilet valves, it goes on and on and on. Right? Going to
temple is not about not working. They were serving. There were people who were
serving and that's what we're supposed to be doing and if you're not serving
and you're not having joy and you're not hanging everything on God and you
supposedly have the Holy Spirit in you, how in the heck does that math work out?
If you know the God of heaven you know whatever you're facing is too big for
you without him so everything should be on him. But don't miss it. There's one
more. The third blessing is them blessing God. That's what it said. There were two
words, proskoneo, that's on your face. That's on your face, prostrate before the
Lord, crying into the carpet when necessary, arms up, I'm not holding me up,
you're holding me up, trusting totally in God. But also in that last verse is
eulogon and eulogon is talking good things about and to the person. That's
what it is and so when we come together and we're singing our songs of praise
that's praise but also if you listen to the lyrics you realize we're declaring
the good things about God. But I submit to you that's not enough because it
doesn't say seeing the good things it says saying. Eulogon is saying the good
things about God. You ought to be saying the good things about God everywhere you
go. They were saying the good things about God. It says continually all
day every day until the Holy Spirit settled on them they were saying the
good things about God. Can you say the good things about God? Do you know that
God created that you like trees? I like trees, God made those. You like food? I like
food, God made those except for most of the chemicals. Now he made them but that's
he made the stuff but then people put it together to make it the chemicals so
that you can have it on the shelf for two and a half years that's not good for
you right? That's why not processed food that's the food that God made is better
than processed food that's the food that God made and man polluted. That's why our
bodies need not processed food and I'm not preaching about health and nutrition
but that's the reality of it. Do you know the parables that Jesus taught while he
was on earth because they're almost all about the goodness of God. Could you tell
somebody the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds, the parable of the
mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the hidden treasure, the parable of great value, the net,
the lost sheep, the unforgiving servant, the two sons, the tenants, the
wedding feast. How about the ten virgins? The lost coin? The other parable of the
wedding feast that Luke told? The dishonest manager? Well you like that one
because then that's the only one in which God is depicted as shrewd and
tricky.
Can you tell these stories? Because if you can't I'm not sure if we're getting it
as a church because we're studying them. We're doing them on Tuesday nights, we're
doing them on Sunday mornings. We're working through the Bible, been doing it
for a while now. If you've been here for a long time you should be able to tell
the stories that tell about God and why tell the stories? Because Jesus told the
stories. Walk as he walked. Not everybody's gonna get it. You tell the
parable of the Good Samaritan, not everybody's gonna understand. But those
that God is convicting might and those that have God has already saved should
and we tell these stories to each other not just the stories but the praises. Is
God good? Yes, he's good. Should we be saying he's good? Us trite. God is good.
All the time. All the time. God is good. We got we got to develop sayings to get
ourselves to say that God is good. Literally you should not have a
conversation without saying God is good. Hello, God is good. Bye. That could be the
whole conversation. It ought to be all the time. We're blessing God. Talking
about God. Talking to God. Talking about his characteristics. He's got angels
around the throne say holy, holy, holy. Anybody can put him off and say God is
not me. I'm not me. I'm worshiping God because he's not me. He's so much better
me. So much more powerful me and you can do that. If you're not doing that and
you're not saved you'd it. That's harsh. You're not smart with your time. Let's
put it that way. You're wasting time on earth if you're not worshiping God. The
bottom line is there's something more. We should be talking about God. Do you not
understand that if you were blessing God continually as they were the whole
question about whether or not you're ever gonna win anybody Jesus would be
done. Be solved. Because the hundredth person or the 37th person or whatever
that you tell about God, his power, his creation, how it is, is gonna be somebody
Katelyn that walked away from Jehovah's Witness that now is interested in
knowing the real God. It's gonna be somebody that's in the dark spot, a
difficult spot, they don't know how to answer their questions and they would be
willing to get on the face to a turnip if there was a solution. And you go and
tell them what God is like and they're gonna go yeah I get on my face before
God. Heck yeah. What do I got to lose? It's all gone. It's all falling apart. I'm in the
worst place I've ever been. I'll get on my face before anybody you tell me to
get on my face before for a solution except they're gonna get on their face
before God that you told them about who God is and it's the real God and the
real God is gonna show up and make a difference in their life. They're gonna
get saved and whether they get out of the situation that they're in or not
they're suddenly gonna realize that they have connected with their Creator. We
have a job to do that involves talking about God and our church should be
talking about God. We proclaim what we have seen and heard. We will bless God.
You log on means to bless someone. It's translated that way. We will bless him
when we talk about him and we talk to him and it's not just singing praise it
ought to be all the time. Notice some simple things. First of all God is
faithful. Did you know that God is faithful? It's theos pistas. Check 1st
Corinthians chapter 10. Two words. Sentence. God is faithful. God is faithful
and we can say of God that he is faithful. You can tell everybody that he
is faithful. When they lost a loved one you can tell them he is faithful. We
should tell of him and his faithfulness always. He is our Father. If you're saved
you become a child of God and he literally becomes your Heavenly Father.
And he is faithful. He is a faithful Father. Doesn't matter if your father was
good or not. He is a faithful Father and you should tell of him. You want to be
like God? Be found faithful. Why do you think that's the only primary standard of
Christianity? Just be found faithful. One pastor wins thousands and the pews are
filled with all these people and maybe they're saved and maybe they're
following something else and whatever. And another pastor ministers in a church
of 25 and faithfully preaches the gospel and delivers the Word. Which one's going
to heaven? The one that trusted in Jesus. The one that worshiped the one true God.
The one that follows only God through his son Jesus. That's the one. And if it's
the big guy with thousands of people or the little guy with 25 people that's up
to the Lord and I'm okay with that. He's faithful. You be found faithful and let
us all let us be all together found faithful to speak about God. And that
brings us to our conclusion but before we get there I want to recap and it is
this. Jesus was leaving and as he left he blessed. In fact he left his blessing
behind and he wasn't leaving to leave. He was leaving to intercede. He was leaving
to equip. If you ever leave a person and as you leave them you have feelings in
your heart like well first of all I'm okay with I never see that person again.
Secondly I don't think I can ever do anything for that person. Third I don't
think that person can ever do anything for me and you're just done with them.
You are not leaving as Jesus left. They could be hating you. They be hurting you.
They could be persecuting you. They could be laughing about you. Telling jokes
about you. Throwing things at you as you part. And you should be
walking away putting them in the hands of the Lord and hoping that one day
they'll be saved and set free. The missionaries who were killed down in
Central America, Nate Saint was one of them. He's the most famous one. They later
made a movie about him. Whatever. They had rifles in their planes. They said
they're why do you have rifles in your plane? Well because we might deal with a
cougar or something like that. So we're not worried about the fact that the
people that you're ministering to are murder tribes. They had a
murder society. It means they killed and if you murdered somebody you got
everything that they previously owned. That way nothing went to waste. So you
got their body and anything you could make out of it and anything that they
previously owned. As a murder society that's what the natives that they were
going to witness to. One day as they were flying throwing packages down
packages down over and over and over. One day they found a way to land the plane
and they land and they were ministering giving stuff away and everything was
fine. And the murder tribe came and murdered them and took everything that
they had. Right? Later they checked. The rifles were loaded.
Cartridges in the chamber. Guys with spears charged the woods 50 yards. The
tree line was 50 yards. And they came out with spears and charged that plane and
killed them. No surprise really because three weeks before Nate Saint had said
we'd never use those rifles on those men because if they kill us we go to heaven.
If we kill them they go to hell. Don't you understand? We must leave the way he
leaves. Leave your blessing. Somebody's persecuting you and say look I'm hoping
that one day you'll get behind this. One day you'll know who Jesus is. One day
you'll be saved. Hear my blessing. You're better than this. Do it like that. And
then we must go on and we have to praise and worship him. Yes on our face at times
but also bless him. Talk about him. Talk about him all the time continually.
That's how we survive as a church. That's how we survive as an individual. That is
the activity of the kingdom. And let me burst your bubble if it's going to be a
burst for you. It is the activity of heaven. So if you don't want to talk
about God, if you want to praise God, you want to get on your face before God, you
don't want to go to heaven. You say but hell is much worse. Yes hell is much
worse. But the truth is this is what God's kingdom is about. It is recognizing
God's sovereignty. The angels sing holy, holy, holy and they will until we are
there to do it instead. God is faithful. Tell everyone that and anything else
good about God. Tell the stories about God. So we come to our conclusion. We look
at what he did. Jesus told in parables we should tell the parables. We look at
what he did. Jesus told what he saw, what he knew. We should tell what we see, what
we knew. Jesus told what he had heard from the Father. We should tell what we
hear. Jesus was like this. He was a friend to God and he was a friend to
sinners and that's what we should be. That's what we're called to.
Continually who we are simply put we're his. If someone should look at you when
you're on at work on the job with your family in your shop in your garage in
your yard at the store what will they see?
It can't be inaction or divided attention but it should be wholehearted
praising and blessing God. That's what they should see. That's what these people
did when Jesus told them to go and wait. They didn't have the Holy Spirit yet. They
were waiting for him to come and that's what they did continually. Now you and I
have the Holy Spirit. Of course not only is that what we should be doing
continually but on top of that we are empowered to do it in our own unique way
and that's what you should be doing. Praising and blessing God continually. We
can do that for the gift of his Son, for the gift of his Holy Spirit. We are glad
are we not that God has intervened on our behalf? I sure hope so. One text to
read together an example of this that goes pre Jesus's walk on the earth is
Psalm 34. So you want to flip back in your Bible to the middle of your Bible
to Psalm 34 our final text and we just have a few few lines left on my notes
and this text pretty much speaks for itself as we read it. If we run into
something that the Lord prompts me on I will bring it up. The first
sentence kind of says it all and you got to love that about the Psalms. It says I
will bless the Lord at all times. Could stop there couldn't we? That would be
enough. That would settle it for everything that we just talked about. It
says I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my
mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear it and
rejoice. Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought
the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. They
looked to him and were radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor
man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The
angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Oh taste
and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in
him. Oh fear the Lord you his saints. For to those who fear him there is no want.
The young lions do lack and suffer hunger. So no matter how strong or fast
or intelligent a young lion is there are going to be days where he goes hungry
and you could fit that mold if you try. The young lions lack, the young lions do
lack and suffer hunger. But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any
good thing. Come you children listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is the man who declares, I'm sorry, who is the man who desires life and loves
length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil. How do you keep
your tongue from evil? Well it ought to be busy blessing the Lord. And your lips
from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The
eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears are open to their
cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers to cut off the memory of them
from this earth. The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of
all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who
are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous and that
means that we will go through lots of problems. But the Lord delivers him out
of them all. He keeps all his bones not one of them is broken and that would
later be taken as a messianic text talking specifically about Jesus during
his crucifixion and his bones were never broken. He keeps all his bones not one of
them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked. And we kill each other and we
could be doing the same thing and sometimes I think we do fall to that.
They come at us and we want to come back with them with a quicker
tongue or with a with a fight right. Evil will slay the wicked and those who hate
the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants and
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. God does not lose and
he does not lie. He does not abandon or fail to keep his promises. He is not
subject to the limitations of men. He is big in the biggest sense of big. He is
powerful in the most explosive sense of power. He is the eternal unending and
perfect God. In short he is alone he alone is God and we must as his people
find it in ourselves to praise and bless him continually. And anytime you're not
doing that just shut up because you got nothing to say. This is God. He's still on
the throne. The angels are still singing holy holy holy because he's completely
different. And you and I have been given the right to know him personally. And
when you know God personally you cannot but have joy. You cannot but serve. You
cannot but praise him. And don't forget the missing blessing because you must
talk about him continually. Let this be the kind of people that we are. Let
everything else go. Turn to God and say God I'll put it all on you. Whatever
happens it's in your hands. And if you do that through Jesus Christ that's what it
means to be saved. Then you are a Christian. And as a Christian you will be
filled with joy and the other fruits of the Holy Spirit and you will overcome
every temptation. We need to close with this illustration. This morning due to my
absent-mindedness or whatever a pipe that broke at my house last week I
forgot to seal one of the connections. So when you do plastic plumbing you have to
sand it, prime it, seal it, put it together, let it sit for half an hour so it can dry,
then you turn the water on. Well one of the connections I forgot to sand it
prime it and seal it. I forgot to do it. I was fitting together and looked down
there everything looks so nice and neat. Turn it on the water doesn't leak. I'm
going that's great until this morning about nine o'clock. I'm finishing up my
sermon for today. I'm really convicted by this sermon because I
think about the things I talk about. So I'm really intensely into it and the
pipe broke. Sherry comes out there and she says hey that the pipe broke again.
I'm like I fixed it in such a way it should never break again and I almost
wanted to say that can't be right but of course it was right because she wouldn't
tell me it broke if it didn't. So I got out I put my Bible down and I went and
made sure the water was all turned off so not pouring on the floor anymore and I
looked at it and I discovered my mistake. Now I want to tell you that I wanted with
every part of my being except the important part to not finish this sermon.
With all that was in me you know how we are man every man in the room is going
yep I totally get that. I knew exactly what to do. I had all the parts on hand.
All I had to do is whip it together and let it dry for half an hour and then I
just snap that bad boy in there tighten it down. Solved. I had all the parts I
didn't have to run to the store even. I wanted everything to not finish the
sermon. And I was just going through it. I could have said was good enough. It was
all written. I could have said it's good enough. And God and I were spending time
together and I thought about last Sunday's sermon about spending time with
God and how that's when God reveals himself and I said no not gonna do it. I
finished the sermon when I was totally done. I had 10-15 minutes between then
and when I had to leave to go pick up Larry and I went looked at the pipe and
I glued it got it ready to go so now when it's sitting there ready to go I
can put it back together when I get home but as I was doing that I noticed
another leak that has nothing to do with anything that I had done. If that pipe
had not broke today I would not have discovered that other leak. And if I had
put the sermon down and said well I'll go fix the pipe and then I'll come back
and finish this I would have discovered the other leak and it would not have
been fixed. I get it. We're all busy about our lives. We've got problems to
solve, things to do, things to say, places to be, people to network with, stuff to
buy and stuff to throw out, stuff to fix, stuff to clean, etc etc etc. Let me tell
you on that list at the very very top must be worshiping God and blessing him.
And if it's not then you my friend are taking the place of God in your own life
at certain times. And who do you think you'll answer to for that? It's not me,
it's not another brother in Christ. The Holy Spirit will probably continue to
comfort you because he loves you. But what are you gonna say when you get to
heaven? Not gonna be judged to go to hell if you're saved. What do you say to
heaven when God asks you well how was that more important than worshiping and
blessing me? And you're gonna be like uh I really have no answer for that question
right now. Now that I stand before you, now that I see you really are real, what
are we saying here? Now that I say you really do mean it, what are we saying? Is
that what you're gonna say to God? Now that I see you really do expect me to
praise you or I should have done it for my whole life or I should have been
talking about you all the time. Now that I see that that's what you're gonna that's
gonna be our excuse because we see it now. We read it now. We know it now. This
is what our lives are about from here going forward. Don't arrive at that point
in time and say well yeah there were some other important things that got in
the way God. Don't do it. We have the praise team to come forward at this time and
we're gonna have our closing hymn. If you're here today number one that you
never put your hand in the hand of the man. You never turned yourself over to
God through Jesus Christ. You need to respond openly publicly. Do not deny Him
and just say I'm living for Jesus today for nobody else. Not even for me. I'll allow that
in the truene. I submit myself in His hand. That's what it means to be saved. You'll be
forgiven of your sins and have it by the Holy Spirit led to walk a certain way
through the remainder of your days and it will include joy and praising Him and blessing Him
every day. Now if you're here today and say already I'm saved but I realize I've been
I've been doing a lot that isn't praising or blessing God. I've been letting a lot of
things interfere. You repent. You turn to God. Not to me but to God. And you say okay God I
realize you are the most important one. You are more important than everything.
If you found that you cannot praise and bless God as a
Christian unless you quit your job then you should quit your job. You're like but
I'll starve. Better you starve than don't praise and bless God. No way.
Because that's what it means to be a follower of the Lord and people have
starved to praise God. And people have suffered. And we will face many afflictions.
And He will bring us out of them all if we remember to whom we belong. Would you stand
with me and sing this song if the Lord is in your view so that He may respond however He is leading you to.
We believe though we have never seen. We believe and chase to follow our King, Jesus.
We believe that Jesus is real. We believe in the truth He reveals. We believe that He saves us from sin.
We believe that He's power is good and we believe. Oh we believe.
We believe that we are not. We believe that we are not. We believe that we are not.
We believe and chase to follow our King, Jesus.
We believe that Jesus is real. We believe in the truth He reveals. We believe that He saves us from sin.
We believe that He's coming again with me. That Jesus is real. We believe in the truth He reveals.
We believe that He saves us from sin. We believe that He's coming again with me. Oh we believe.
We believe that Jesus is real. We believe that He saves us from sin. We believe that He saves us from sin.
He is a loving God. God loves us so much He sent His own Son to die for us. He is a loving God. He is there for all us stupid people keep doing the wrong thing, giving us the opportunity to turn back to Him every time. He protects us from ourselves. He even protects lost people.
You know what crushing impact sin would be on a person if they don't have Jesus? I remember what it was like to me. I was literally melting under the pressure of my own life.
He protected me for 25 years and then led me to the moment I could see as a loving God. You take that home. Use it all week long. Danny tell me something good about God.
He created us. He created us specifically. How about that? Psalm 139. God created Danny. You think well no God created Adam and Eve and it just sort of went on from there. No it says He created you in the womb. He made you exactly the way you are.
All your messed upness, that's all for God. All your good stuff, that's all for God. All the stupid things you did in the past that you know you should do and no one else should do, that's all for God. Now God can use that and make something incredible.
You are who you are today because God orchestrated the events of your life. That's Acts 17. He set up the boundaries of everything that we go through so that we might grope around for Him and having found Him, realize He would never fall away in the first place.
God created you not only in the womb but in every moment along the way until this moment so you can do exactly what He wants you to do right now. God created you. RJ, tell me something good about God. He's forgiving. He's a forgiving God.
You think He screwed up? You think oh Pastor Dan never screwed up? That's a flat out lie. I'm chief amongst the screw up. My sin is the greater sin because my sin is to keep me out of heaven and send me to hell.
So if I only ever, which is not the case, if I only ever sinned a little bit, no I sinned a lot, but if I only ever sinned a little bit that would be the worst sin there ever was. And your sin is your worst sin. But thankfully He is a forgiving God.
Charlie, tell me something good about God. He's caring. He cares about your exact situation, exactly where you are right now.
You're talking to somebody and they're talking about the hurt that they're in, whatever. You don't have to say, because I dealt with this, I made this mistake often times when we lost a loved one or whatever, you say to them, you know, God's got a plan, right? That's what we say. That's the wrong thing by the way. Don't say that.
I've said it recently, made that mistake. God cares. God cares what we're going through. Right? I was a young girl who got pregnant outside of Leg Lock and then she was going to have the baby. She was going to have an abortion. The baby died like four months into the pregnancy.
So we did a funeral service, a moral service for her. And my sermon was, God did not want this to happen. It doesn't matter if you're sinned. God doesn't want evil to happen in the world. God hates it. God also hates sin. That's why God hates sin, because it's against us, right?
God is for you, even when you are against you. He is a caring God. Anybody got one that you just wanted to say? Tony. Say it again.
That's right. God is a just in time deliverer. Remember that phrase. That's a business phrase that comes from economics training. God will give you exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants to give it to you. And so if you're facing difficulties, we will. There is sorrow and sighing on the highway of holiness, right?
But know that you are headed to a place where that does not happen. God will save you from what you're going through exactly when he wants to. Could be the difficulties that you're facing, the salvation might be that, and go on to heaven.
So don't rush it. You got things to do for the Lord, including the joy that you experience here on earth and blessing him, talking about him. That's all for him. Praising him, all you're facing for him. That's for him.
But it's also for us. It makes it possible. You can never be so broken that you have no solution. Because God cares for you.
There you go. So even though you may think it's your plan, your idea, your decisions, he has a plan for you. And he can even use your foolishness or your mistake to take you where he's taking you to. That's good. He orchestrates your life. He is only in your approach. But because of the son, he returns to him. Anybody can approach him.
I want you to think of this this week. When you're praying to God, I want you to picture yourself as walking into the throne room of God. Nobody can approach God. There are four angels saying, holy, holy, holy, you come in the presence of God in your flesh and you will be destroyed.
Because your flesh is not holy. That's the way it is. God's holiness will pour out from the tabernacle and destroy all flesh. It's as the Bible says. But because of Jesus, when you pray, it is as if you are transported virtually, if you will, into the throne room of God through his son Jesus.
That's why we pray in the name of the son of Jesus. Because he makes intercession for us when we go to pray. When two or more of us are gathered, that's what it means. Because he is there with us, he prays right along with us. He is making intercession for us. Good work.
You take any of those and anyone that the Lord leads you to and you use them over and over and over again all week this week as you talk to anybody anywhere. Take the shortest one and tell the person you buy your fast food from that one.
The one that comes to mind when you pick up your Big Mac, you tell them something about God and you see what happens. Just do it for one week and see how it changes your entire life.
Trust me, I want to be joyous. It's good to be joyous. I want to face trials and tribulations with joy. I ain't always feeling it emotionally.
If we will do this, what we are called to, and the Holy Spirit makes it possible, he makes it possible, we will change the world. Our world, us, our relationships, we will change everything.
That's what God called us to do. Create something incredible. Deacon Tony, would you pray us out? We are praying along with Deacon Tony, that God who loves you just that much.
Father, thank you for the reason we are here today. It was a beautiful day, a great course. Thank you for the words and the courage you have given us to Pastor Dan and the words of others.
Just ask you Lord to watch over us as we leave this place. Help us Lord to think of the main blessing you have given us. Help us Lord to trust you.
You ask for comfort, for a means, and we thank you Lord for all you have given us, even though we can't think of it right now. Lord, I thank you for being a patient God, patience with us, long striving.
Just lead us, guide us, lead us, lead us. Amen. Thank you very much, this concludes our worship. And go in there for and be the church.